I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3231 To provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settle- ment Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. YOUNG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native com- munities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unrecognized South- 4 east Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Com- 5 pensation Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3231 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to redress the omission 2 of the southeastern Alaska communities of Haines, Ketch- 3 ikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell from eligibility 4 under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 5 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) by authorizing the Alaska Natives 6 enrolled in the communities— 7 (1) to form Urban Corporations for the commu- 8 nities of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, 9 and Wrangell under the Alaska Native Claims Set- 10 tlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); and 11 (2) to receive certain settlement land pursuant 12 to that Act. 13 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADDITIONAL NATIVE COR- 14 PORATIONS. 15 Section 16 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 16 Act (43 U.S.C. 1615) is amended by adding at the end 17 the following: 18 ‘‘(e) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCHIKAN, PE- 19 TERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL, ALASKA.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Native residents of 21 each of the Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, 22 Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska, may or- 23 ganize as Urban Corporations. 24 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON ENTITLEMENT TO LAND.— 25 Nothing in this subsection affects any entitlement to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3231 IH land of any Native Corporation established before 1 the date of enactment of this subsection pursuant to 2 this Act or any other provision of law.’’. 3 SEC. 4. SHAREHOLDER ELIGIBILITY. 4 Section 8 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 5 (43 U.S.C. 1607) is amended by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(d) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCHIKAN, 8 PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enroll 10 to each of the Urban Corporations for Haines, 11 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell those 12 individual Natives who enrolled under this Act to the 13 Native Villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 14 Tenakee, or Wrangell, respectively. 15 ‘‘(2) NUMBER OF SHARES.—Each Native who 16 is enrolled to an Urban Corporation for Haines, 17 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell pursu- 18 ant to paragraph (1) and who was enrolled as a 19 shareholder of the Regional Corporation for South- 20 east Alaska shall receive 100 shares of Settlement 21 Common Stock in the respective Urban Corporation. 22 ‘‘(3) NATIVES RECEIVING SHARES THROUGH IN- 23 HERITANCE.—If a Native received shares of stock in 24 the Regional Corporation for Southeast Alaska 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3231 IH through inheritance from a decedent Native who 1 originally enrolled to the Native Village of Haines, 2 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell and 3 the decedent Native was not a shareholder in a Vil- 4 lage Corporation or Urban Corporation, the Native 5 shall receive the identical number of shares of Settle- 6 ment Common Stock in the Urban Corporation for 7 Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or 8 Wrangell as the number of shares inherited by that 9 Native from the decedent Native who would have 10 been eligible to be enrolled to the respective Urban 11 Corporation. 12 ‘‘(4) EFFECT ON ENTITLEMENT TO LAND.— 13 Nothing in this subsection affects entitlement to 14 land of any Regional Corporation pursuant to sec- 15 tion 12(b) or 14(h)(8).’’. 16 SEC. 5. DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS. 17 Section 7 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 18 (43 U.S.C. 1606) is amended— 19 (1) in subsection (j)— 20 (A) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘In 21 the case’’ and inserting the following: 22 ‘‘(3) THIRTEENTH REGIONAL CORPORATION.— 23 In the case’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3231 IH (B) in the second sentence, by striking 1 ‘‘Not less’’ and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Not less’’; 3 (C) by striking ‘‘(j) During’’ and inserting 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(j) DISTRIBUTION OF CORPORATE FUNDS AND 6 OTHER NET INCOME.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—During’’; and 8 (D) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(4) NATIVE VILLAGES OF HAINES, KETCH- 10 IKAN, PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL.— 11 Native members of the Native Villages of Haines, 12 Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell who 13 become shareholders in an Urban Corporation for 14 such a Native Village shall continue to be eligible to 15 receive distributions under this subsection as at- 16 large shareholders of the Regional Corporation for 17 Southeast Alaska.’’; and 18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(s) EFFECT OF AMENDATORY ACT.—The Unrecog- 20 nized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition 21 and Compensation Act and the amendments made by that 22 Act shall not affect— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3231 IH ‘‘(1) the ratio for determination of revenue dis- 1 tribution among Native Corporations under this sec- 2 tion; or 3 ‘‘(2) the settlement agreement among Regional 4 Corporations or Village Corporations or other provi- 5 sions of subsection (i) or (j).’’. 6 SEC. 6. COMPENSATION. 7 The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 8 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘SEC. 43. URBAN CORPORATIONS FOR HAINES, KETCHIKAN, 11 PETERSBURG, TENAKEE, AND WRANGELL. 12 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF URBAN CORPORATION.—In this 13 section, the term ‘Urban Corporation’ means each of the 14 Urban Corporations for Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, 15 Tenakee, and Wrangell. 16 ‘‘(b) CONVEYANCES OF LAND.— 17 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.— 18 ‘‘(A) CONVEYANCES TO URBAN CORPORA- 19 TIONS.—Subject to valid existing rights and 20 paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6), the Secretary 21 shall convey— 22 ‘‘(i) to the Urban Corporation for 23 Haines, the surface estate in 12 parcels of 24 Federal land comprising approximately 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3231 IH 23,040 acres, as generally depicted on the 1 maps entitled ‘Haines Selections’, num- 2 bered 1 and 2, and dated February 19, 3 2021; 4 ‘‘(ii) to the Urban Corporation for 5 Ketchikan, the surface estate in 9 parcels 6 of Federal land comprising approximately 7 23,040 acres, as generally depicted on the 8 maps entitled ‘Ketchikan Selections’, num- 9 bered 1 through 4, and dated February 19, 10 2021; 11 ‘‘(iii) to the Urban Corporation for 12 Petersburg, the surface estate in 12 par- 13 cels of Federal land comprising approxi- 14 mately 23,040 acres, as generally depicted 15 on the maps entitled ‘Petersburg Selec- 16 tions’, numbered 1 through 3, and dated 17 February 19, 2021; 18 ‘‘(iv) to the Urban Corporation for 19 Tenakee, the surface estate in 14 parcels 20 of Federal land comprising approximately 21 23,040 acres, as generally depicted on the 22 maps entitled ‘Tenakee Selections’, num- 23 bered 1 through 3, and dated February 19, 24 2021; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3231 IH ‘‘(v) to the Urban Corporation for 1 Wrangell, the surface estate in 13 parcels 2 of Federal land comprising approximately 3 23,040 acres, as generally depicted on the 4 maps entitled ‘Wrangell Selections’, num- 5 bered 1 through 5, and dated February 19, 6 2021. 7 ‘‘(B) CONVEYANCES TO REGIONAL COR- 8 PORATION FOR SOUTHEAST ALASKA.—Subject 9 to valid existing rights, on the applicable date 10 on which the surface estate in land is conveyed 11 to an Urban Corporation under subparagraph 12 (A), the Secretary shall convey to the Regional 13 Corporation for Southeast Alaska the sub- 14 surface estate for that land. 15 ‘‘(C) CONGRESSIONAL INTENT.—It is the 16 intent of Congress that the Secretary convey 17 the surface estates described in subparagraph 18 (A) not later than the date that is 2 years after 19 the applicable date of incorporation under sec- 20 tion 16(e)(1) of an Urban Corporation. 21 ‘‘(2) WITHDRAWAL.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid exist- 23 ing rights, the Federal land described in para- 24 graph (1) is withdrawn from all forms of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3231 IH ‘‘(i) entry, appropriation, or disposal 1 under the public land laws; 2 ‘‘(ii) location, entry, and patent under 3 the mining laws; 4 ‘‘(iii) disposition under all laws per- 5 taining to mineral and geothermal leasing 6 or mineral materials; and 7 ‘‘(iv) selection under Public Law 85– 8 508 (commonly known as the ‘Alaska 9 Statehood Act’) (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21). 10 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION.—The withdrawal 11 under subparagraph (A) shall remain in effect 12 until the date on which the Federal land is con- 13 veyed under paragraph (1). 14 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF LAND CONVEYED.—Ex- 15 cept as otherwise provided in this section, any land 16 conveyed to an Urban Corporation under paragraph 17 (1)(A) shall be— 18 ‘‘(A) considered to be land conveyed by the 19 Secretary under section 14(h)(3); and 20 ‘‘(B) subject to all laws (including regula- 21 tions) applicable to entitlements under section 22 14(h)(3), including section 907(d) of the Alaska 23 National Interest Lands Conservation Act (43 24 U.S.C. 1636(d)). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3231 IH ‘‘(4) PUBLIC EASEMENTS.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance and 2 patents for the land under paragraph (1)(A) 3 shall be subject to the reservation of public 4 easements under section 17(b). 5 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION.—No public easement 6 reserved on land conveyed under paragraph 7 (1)(A) shall be terminated by the Secretary 8 without publication of notice of the proposed 9 termination in the Federal Register. 10 ‘‘(C) RESERVATION OF EASEMENTS.—In 11 the conveyance and patents for the land under 12 paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall reserve 13 the right of the Secretary to amend the convey- 14 ance and patents to include reservations of pub- 15 lic easements under section 17(b) until the com- 16 pletion of the easement reservation process. 17 ‘‘(5) HUNTING, FISHING, RECREATION, AND AC- 18 CESS.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any land conveyed 20 under paragraph (1)(A), including access to the 21 land through roadways, trails, and forest roads, 22 shall remain open and available to subsistence 23 uses, noncommercial recreational hunting and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3231 IH fishing, and other noncommercial recreational 1 uses by the public under applicable law— 2 ‘‘(i) without liability on the part of the 3 Urban Corporation, except for willful acts 4 of the Urban Corporation, to any user as 5 a result of the use; and 6 ‘‘(ii) subject to— 7 ‘‘(I) any reasonable restrictions 8 that may be imposed by the Urban 9 Corporation on the public use— 10 ‘‘(aa) to ensure public safe- 11 ty; 12 ‘‘(bb) to minimize conflicts 13 between recreational and com- 14 mercial uses; 15 ‘‘(cc) to protect cultural re- 16 sources; 17 ‘‘(dd) to conduct scientific 18 research; or 19 ‘‘(ee) to provide environ- 20 mental protection; and 21 ‘‘(II) the condition that the 22 Urban Corporation post on any appli- 23 cable property, in accordance with 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3231 IH State law, notices of the restrictions 1 on use. 2 ‘‘(B) EFFECT.—Access provided to any in- 3 dividual or entity under subparagraph (A) shall 4 not— 5 ‘‘(i) create an interest in any third 6 party in the land conveyed under para- 7 graph (1)(A); or 8 ‘‘(ii) provide standing to any third 9 party in any review of, or challenge to, any 10 determination by the Urban Corporation 11 with respect to the management or devel- 12 opment of the land conveyed under para- 13 graph (1)(A), except as against the Urban 14 Corporation for the management of public 15 access under subparagraph (A). 16 ‘‘(6) MISCELLANEOUS.— 17 ‘‘(A) SPECIAL USE AUTHORIZATIONS.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On the conveyance 19 of land to an Urban Corporation under 20 paragraph (1)(A)— 21 ‘‘(I) any guiding or outfitting 22 special use authorization issued by the 23 Forest Service for the use of the con- 24 veyed land shall terminate; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3231.IH H3231 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3231 IH ‘‘(II) as a condition of the con- 1 veyance and consistent with section 2 14(g), the Urban Corporation shall 3 issue the holder of the special use au- 4 thorization terminated under sub- 5 clause (I) an authorization to continue 6 the authorized use, subject to the 7 terms and conditions that were in the 8 special use authorization issued by the 9 Forest Service, for— 10 ‘‘(aa) the remainder of the 11 term of the authorization; and 12 ‘‘(bb) 1 additional consecu- 13 tive 10-year renewal period. 14 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE OF COMMERCIAL ACTIVI- 15 TIES.—The Urban Corporation, and any 16 holder of a guiding or outfitting authoriza- 17 tion under this subparagraph, shall have a 18 mutual obligation, subject to the guiding [Text truncated for display. 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